Alex Ovechkin : En Fuego

Alexander Ovechkin scored his 50th goal of the season, and then added 2 assists as the Capitals defeated the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-2. After Ovechkin scored his 50th, he placed his stick on the ground, leaned over it and proceeded to warm his hands off of it. Apparently this was the Russian motion for “HOT!” as Ovechkin indicated that his stick was smoking! After checking some major hockey sites, I have already found people complaining that his celebration was classless. Let me remind those Canadian fans (and Don Cherry), that their beloved Sidney Crosby punching someone in the nuts from behind while that player was being held, is the definition of classless. Alex is entertaining and the best player in the world, and most likely he did this just to spite Cherry. Don’t hate the player, hate the game. Below is the video, courtesy of the NHL:

After the game, Ovechkin was interviewed via phone on NHL on the Fly and stated about the celebration, “It was so hot, like I don’t know, probably Don Cherry is going to be talking about it, for all his career and all his life.” When asked about Don Cherry, “I don’t care about him, he is a funny guy”. He also went on to state that it was Jose Theodore’s idea, to pretend like his stick was hot. Apparently Ovechkin coordinated with the guys ahead of time, but when the time came, they left him hanging and laughed at him.

AP Photo/Mike Carlson - Getty Images

* UPDATE * The good folks over at On Frozen Blog just posted additional video :

Here is Ovechkin’s Post Game interview, complete with shaving cream pie to the face:

Writer

Philip Van der Vossen

Philip Van der Vossen is the Owner of Gunaxin, a Men's Online Magazine and the founder of Capitals Outsider. He is a former beer league player, life long Capitals fan, and season ticket holder since 2001.